Recently, I have been attracting a few people who have been through a lot of shit, as I have myself in the past year. Some of them simply get off the ground, dust off and keep going in a positive way. Others wallow in their pain and spew out an energy that makes me cringe.

I know I did some of the latter in the last two weeks. I guess we all have our weak moments. And I apologize to everyone I came across for my miserable mood.

At one point, I literally hit my head and went "Ok, now WHO is it that is responsible for your current misery?" - Well, that has got to be ME. So, by complaining and whining more, I can only reinforce a downward spiral, right? Energetically, it's really as simple as that.

I'm not suggesting glossing over the hard parts of life, on the contrary. But the way we share them makes all the difference.

If I walked around blaming everyone I've interacted with in the past year for pulling me into this situation and ignoring the choices I made that got me here, people would turn their backs on me pretty quickly, I am sure. Also, I don't want to do that, because it is simply not true. I have forgiven myself first and foremost, and everyone involved for co-creating these situations. The same goes for any difficult situations that are undoubtedly still ahead of me while I work my way back up the energy spectrum.

I know it is my soul plan in this lifetime. So why cause myself and all of our interconnected existence more pain by resisting?

Gracefully and graciously receiving the lessons we signed up for in this lifetime seems to be the order of the day. For me at least... And that, to me, is the spirit of Easter. Acceptance. And acceptance opens us for transformation.

For trained energy healers with distance healing experience, this isn’t really a question. We just know it works, because we can feel the energy flowing, and because we use it every day. Chances are, on the path to offering distance healing sessions, we ourselves have signed up for someone else’s. We easily forget that this distance healing thing is whole new animal to many of our new clients. When I first came across Reiki as a hands-on massage-like treatment as a client, I had no trouble envisioning that it could work. After all, I had already been to quite a few sessions with a skilled acupuncturist (also an energy healing modality), and come out of those feeling better than going in. And that’s exactly what happened in the first Reiki sessions I enjoyed. Our minds are incredibly powerful tools! ...

What does it mean to trust? Is trust (ing yourself) necessary for a happy and fulfilled life? And if so, how can we re-member how to trust (ourselves and life)? This post is about the difference between our conscious minds and subconscious minds in terms of their capacity to process information. And about how most of us allow the conscious mind to limit our experiences in this life - habitually. You'll also learn an exercise later on that helps me re-member how to trust.

Wow, what a whirlwind year this has been. Rollercoaster is a fitting expression, too. Until one hour ago, the jury was still out how this year would end for me, and now it’s official: I’m in a happy place for the last few hours of 2012.

Not that it really was a close call - I feel blessed to have been given every single moment of 2012! Some I mastered gracefully, others not so much.

To me, green smoothies have been a true savior. I had been fighting various obvious digestive issues such as heartburn, bloating and constipation since the early 2000s, and gradually made my way from something akin to SAD - the Standard American Diet - by way of five elements cooking of the traditional Chinese school to eating all vegetarian and eventually all vegan. While each of these steps brought with it certain improvements in my digestive and overall health, I was at a loss as to how I would make cooked vegan foods work for me. This was in June/July 2011. Especially during the work week, this was an almost insurmountable challenge: Frankfurt offers most things that other metropolitan centers have, but a thriving alternative eating scene is not the city's forte. Eventually, I found ONE all vegetarian restaurant that also offered very limited vegan choices at decent prices. At first, I was delighted and relieved. However, it quickly grew old; I was lacking variety and I became discouraged and increasingly cranky. One of my friends saw my frustration and gave me the saving tip: “Solveig, I’ve heard about this new thing, green smoothies. I have a weblink, but haven’t really done much research myself on this.” - Thank you, Elke! <3 - So I figured, what the heck, let’s give it a try. I googled “Victoria Boutenko” the woman who invented and popularized green smoothies, and got hooked by her story. What she was writing made so much sense to me intuitively that I decided to just go for it. I bought one of Victoria’s recipe books, and got started by making myself a cup of green smoothie in place of a normal dessert.

I did not have to force myself to eat more greens, I started craving them!

After a few days only, my body began requiring more greens - salad for dinner was a new favorite. Imagine my surprise: salad for dinner! And that after I hadn’t been able to digest anything fresh and uncooked at night for the longest time! You read me right: I did not have to force myself to eat more greens, I started craving them!

Reiki is a non-invasive way that has empirically been known to balance out the human energy system. The underlying assumption and experience of millions of people is that, somehow, we are all connected, as in, part of the same energy field. Our bodies also have their own energy fields each. Properly trained Reiki practitioners access these energy fields via skill, symbols and mantras to channel Reiki-energy to the recipient. The Reiki energy then allows for the human self-healing capacity to gradually ease out of imbalances in body, mind and spirit.

Think of it like a communication via mobile phones or radio: there is an energy that carries information. We don’t see it around us. But we can hear (and see) the results if we have the proper receiving device. As Reiki practitioner, I am the sender, or rather the link between the energy source and the recipient, and the person requesting Reiki is the receiver.

Oh my goddess! I am so excited! Do you know that feeling when you’ve just finished a major project? A project that opens windows of opportunity for yourself and for other who will eventually get involved? Like that opening in the clouds that bestows brilliant rays of sunlight upon you? - I’m sure you know what I am talking about! But before I draw back the curtain, I’d like to tell you a little bit about my life in the past few years: Two years ago, still working full time in the corporate world, and having barely finished my Reiki I training, I had no idea what the future would hold in store for me. I had no clue how radically that little opportunity to learn Reiki would change my life for the better.

Are you ever wondering how the people you admire, those that seem to have it all together, manage to do that? Does it seem impossible? - Tell you what: those people who seem to have it all together all the time, they’re just like you and me. We all have our breakdowns.

Now you may rightfully be asking: “well, Solveig Caroline, you surely have it all together all the time?! You’re this accomplished young woman with a great physique, no more worries about getting sick and so many other things going for you...”

I’ll be honest, this started out as a story to reconnect us women to our power. Pondering over it for a while, though, I find it equally relevant for men. After all, men also have a feminine side to integrate, and a huge source of power that is often either partially utilized or not at all. Just like we women do.

One culprit for this may be that both men and women in the Western world have been inundated with the same story about Adam and Eve from an early age on. Thus I invite both women and men equally to discover one liberating possibility to rewrite the story of Adam and Eve.

The stories we tell ourselves play a huge part in the readiness of women and men to assume their full heart power. These stories can be on the conscious level and on the subconscious level. Many of them are on the subconscious level - and as long as we still hang on to those, we can pretty much try anything on the conscious level and will still not reach our ful potential. So, here’s to debunking one of the major myths that has become the story of the archetypical first relationship. It’s been told in kindergarten and in schools long enough to firmly engrain it into our DNA: I’m talking of the story of Adam and Eve and the eviction from the Garden of Eden.

Dear readers, since I have had to deal with a few obviously ill-intentioned posts both on my website and on the eMateria Facebook page, I have decided to approve all comments before they get published. I hope for your understanding and very much look forward to many constructive exchanges.

Here’s my answer to the stalker and the anonymous commentator(s):

Dear AA/Jennifer Buttermilch,Dear Stalker,

thank you for the lessons all of you (although there may be only one of you) are bringing into my life right now. I guess each and every blogger who is brave enough to put out an opinion, a name and a face in public has to deal with this kind of experience at least once. It’s life’s way of asking:

Almost everyone I know seems to be thinking about or struggling with this topic of boundaries and why they are necessary or not. I’m also just getting clearer on how I can lovingly set boundaries in my life for the benefit of all involved.

Can we think of boundaries as a tool on the mental plane that we need in duality to define the "I" from the "you"? As a kind of tool of conscious thinking to enable the next developmental step?

To me, the Eastern philosophies are very much coming from a place of love and holistic experience, hence no need for explicit boundaries. On the face if it, much of Western thought is still fear-based and exclusively reliant on the mind. However, if we look at our genius physicists (I'm a huge Einstein fan), for instance, the quest to define the smallest part of the material world (setting boundaries of the atom, nucleus, electrons, photons, quarks, etc.) inevitably leads them to talk about energy fields and interconnectedness. Or about the wave/particle phenomenon of photons, depending on how the observer looks at this particle of light.

I guess what I am saying is, to me, boundaries and integration are necessary and in no way contradicting elements of the human experience of duality and human awakening to oneness.

Today I received a beautiful reminder from the Universe to remain humble and tolerant and to not assume everyone knows and feels exactly the way I do.

People are at different stages in their lives and in their development, and in my opinion need to be picked up exactly at the point they're at by any kind of teacher if they so desire. Or left alone.

I was at a local health food store here in Frankfurt and had a little chat with the owner. I casually told her about my new distance Reiki work. She frowned and was almost whispering when she said "you know, I've received 2 initiations myself, but I don't really use it anymore."

"Why???" was my surprised question, given the benefits I see Reiki having on myself and others all the time...

My daily Reiki practice never looks exactly the same, but there are several elements that show up every time in a special order, too.

First thing in the morning, I step out on the balcony to stretch a bit and take a few deep breaths of the fresh morning air. And I look around and enjoy the bits of nature that are visible even in the middle of the city here in Frankfurt. For instance, there’s a beautiful chestnut tree that I love behind our apartment building (my beloved grandfather - a forest ranger - used to send me animals made of chestnuts and matchsticks by mail when I was little).

And then I get a glimpse of a gorgeous portion of the Frankfurt skyline: the MesseTurm (Trade Fair Tower) with its lit pyramid top in particular. I totally enjoy the view every single morning, as it shows up differently depending on weather and season.

I realize anything to do with religion is touchy topic for many people.

It used to be for me, too.

After all, I spent much of my teenage years at a Catholic all girls school, going back to the Venerable Mary Ward, I.B.V.M (1585-1645). Now the nuns who ran the school in this impressive lady’s legacy, are wonderful women, with so much wisdom and kindness to share. And I remain eternally grateful for all they have taught me. The school also happened to be one of the most rigorous academic institutions in my home state of Bavaria. And it was the school that my mother had attended before me.

And, most important of all to my ten year old self: it was the only school in town that offered a math & science track starting in 8th grade. I loved everything to do with math, and had no intention whatsoever of “wasting my time learning French” - literally! So there were good reasons I had opted to attend that particular school back then. However, you can probably imagine the scornful remarks and jokes from my peers who weren’t attending that same school.

Author

Solveig Caroline originally studied and practiced energetic healing modalities to "job-proof" her body and mind, when she found herself in a full-blown burnout while working on Wall Street. Her passionate curiosity about natural/spiritual healing and intense desire to share the treasure trove of insights & lessen the burden on other highly ambitious and madly busy souls had her establish eMateria in 2012.